Dan Henderson

“I told Joe Silva I wanted to stay at 185 because I wanted another shot at (current UFC middleweight champion) Anderson Silva. I don’t want to stay down there if I am not guaranteed a title shot. I have way more fun not cutting weight.”

- Dan Henderson discusses whether or not he would like to fight in the UFC’s middleweight or light heavyweight division following his unanimous decision win over Brazilian grappler Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88 this past weekend on Tuesday’s edition of TAGG Radio via MMA Junkie.

The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission has released the official lists of medical suspensions and fighter salaries stemming from this past weekend’s UFC 88: Breakthrough event, which took place at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rashad Evans scored a brutal second-round knockout of former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell in the show’s main event. Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former PRIDE title holder Dan Henderson were also victorious in their respective bouts.

In terms of the fighter salaries, remember that this is only the base salary that a fighter received. Bonuses, deductions, and other undisclosed fees are not included.

The official weigh-in results for tomorrow night’s UFC 88: Breakthrough, which takes place at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, are below. All fighters successfully made weight.

The show is headlined by former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell going up against undefeated contender Rashad Evans. Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin will also be moving back up to the 205 lb. weight class to take on former standout collegiate wrestler and one-time training partner Matt Hamill in the co-main event.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship today confirmed three previously rumored bouts for their upcoming “Breakthrough” event on September 6th, when the organization will venture into Atlanta, Georgia for the first time in history.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin will return to the light heavyweight division for the first time since April 2005 to take on former “Ultimate Fighter” contestant and standout wrestler Matt Hamill. Franklin most recently defeated Travis Lutter in April while Hamill is coming off of a stoppage of newcomer Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 13.

Former two-division PRIDE title holder Dan Henderson will try to snap a current two-fight losing streak when he goes up against rising middleweight prospect Rousimar Palhares, who made a successful and impressive UFC debut against veteran Ivan Salaverry at UFC 84.

Karo Parisyan will attempt to put himself back in contention in the welterweight division as he faces Japanese standout Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Yoshida like Parisyan, is also a black belt in judo. He was victorious in his UFC debut a couple months ago, submitting fan-favorite Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver. Parisyan suffered his first loss in almost two years when he was knocked out by upstart contender Thiago Alves in April.

- Nick Diaz will be fighting Thomas Denny on the next CBS EliteXC event (July 26). Let me translate that to how everyone reads it: Diaz isn’t fighting KJ Noons, or even Hayato Sakurai, and that’s just disappointing.

- We’ll probably see Dan Henderson vs Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88 (Sep 6). The fight will be at 185, instead of Henderson’s prefered 205. Six of eight of Palhares’ wins have come by submission, including the Submission of the Night at UFC 84 over Ivan Salaverry. It should be a good card with Chuck Liddell vs TUF 2 champ Rashad Evans.

Former PRIDE middleweight and welterweight champion Dan Henderson talks to MMARated.com hosts Ariel Helwani and UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste in terms of what his future career holds. Interesting tidbits that Henderson discusses includes a planned bout against Rich Franklin that would have headlined the UFC’s upcoming event in England that didn’t happen, the amount of fights left on his current deal with the UFC, why he intends to stay at middleweight, and who he would like to fight next in order to propel himself back into title contention.

Kenny Florian will reportedly serve as the temporary host of ESPN’s newly-planned online mixed martial arts magazine show that will appear exclusively on the company’s official website and on mobile phones according to Adam Swift of MMA Payout.

According to Swift, Florian will serve as the show’s host at least for the first two weeks of tapings. However it’s unknown whether the show will be UFC-based, something that apparently delayed the launch of the program, or if it will cover the entire world of the sport.

Affliction-HDNet Deal Still Possible

While it was previously reported that a potential deal between Affliction and HDNet that would have the clothing brand hold it’s first MMA show at the Dallas-based American Airlines Center fell apart, HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon says that the event could still possibly be televised on the digital cable network.

According to MMA Weekly, the event would not be permitted to take place at the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks due to a lack of time to substantially promote the show. However the potential of at least part of the event airing live or on tape-delay on HDNet is not out of the realm of possibility.

“We talk to everybody and I wouldn’t say that any conversation is dead yet,” Simon said in the report. “You just never know. You know how this sport works, one day you think you’re not working together and the next day you might announce something. Affliction… I would say, never say never.

ASU Shuts Down Storied Wrestling Program

Arizona State University has decided to shut down it’s storied wrestling program along with men’s swimming and men’s tennis as part of a financial cutback at the school according to MMA Weekly.

Normally this wouldn’t be the type of news to be reported on this site, but the school’s wrestling program has produced a slew of highly-touted MMA prospects in recent years, including current UFC fighters Cain Velasquez and C.B. Dollaway. Shoe-in hall-of-famers Dan Severn, Don Frye, and Dan Henderson all competed for the school as well in the past.

There may still be hope for the program. NCAA President Myles Brand is expected to hold a meeting later this month to discuss the possibility of protecting school sports that also take place in the Olympics, wrestling being one of them.

Bush Tests Positive for Marijuana

Heavyweight prospect George Bush has reportedly tested positive for marijuana following his first-round tournament loss to former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez at YAMMA Pit Fighting’s inaugural show last month in Atlantic City, New Jersey according to Sherdog.com.

“I just found out a few days ago, and needless to say, I’m very surprised and disappointed,” Bush said in the report. “I accept full responsibility for my actions, and I assure the fans that this will never happen again.”

While there won’t be any official announcement from the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, (they don’t release drug-testing information to the media) Bush has confirmed that he has not been fined but has been suspended by the commission for 90 days.

Let’s get straight down to the facts. The official attendance inside the Nationwide Arena was 16,431. The live gate is expected to be somewhere around $2.2 million.

Fight of the Night honors went to Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, who each received $60,000. Silva also earned $60,000 for submission of the night. Chris Leben won the same amount for his stoppage of Alessio Sakara.

Josh Koscheck and Yushin Okami both suffered separate hand injuries in their fights. Both Koscheck and Andrei Arlovski completed the last fights on their respective contracts with the UFC and are now officially free agents.

Silva looks unstoppable

I said before last night that if Anderson Silva dispatched of Dan Henderson easily, then I’d go ahead and claim that he is unstoppable. He is. He’s completely cleaned out the entire middleweight division. I was long a proponent that guys using the Team Quest style of fighting were bad matchups for Silva but obviously that isn’t the case. Silva shows us an entire new dimension of his game every time out.

While a rematch against Okami (who is now pretty much the top contender unless the UFC plans on bringing someone else in or creating a new plan) is intriguing, it’s pretty much set in stone that Silva would pick him apart on the feet. I don’t necessarily agree with Dana White’s constant statement that Silva is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport completely, but I will say that he’s getting dangerously close to achieving that honor.

Anderson Silva passed his toughest test yet as champion with flying colors, submitting former Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson and successfully defending his UFC middleweight title for the third straight time, becoming the second undisputed champ in mixed martial arts history while doing it.

Even in defeat, Henderson perhaps gave the best performance against the champion to date. After an exchange on the feet to start the fight, Henderson was able to take Silva down and control him on the mat until the end of the round.

Although Silva did a good job of keeping a tight guard and preventing Henderson from doing any significant damage, the Team Quest co-founder used a number of hammer fists and the constant disruption of Silva’s breathing pattern to take the lead on the judge’s scorecards.

Silva heeded advice to crank up the pressure at the start of the second round, waving Henderson towards him and then stunning him with a mix of kicks, knees, and punches. A dazed Henderson swung wildly while trying to keep himself from falling over and then came up short in a takedown attempt.

Silva (21-4) capitalized by pouncing on his opponent. After softening him up with punches from inside his guard, Henderson (22-7) gave up his back and was forced to tap out via a rear naked choke moments later.

“My hat goes off to Anderson Silva,” Henderson said during a post-fight interview. “He was definitely the better fighter tonight. I controlled him well and beat him up a little bit in that first round and he came back ready to get after me in the second. He dazed me a little bit on the ground and then he got me in the choke.”

“I think I should have been more aggressive,” continued Henderson. “I didn’t fully execute my gameplan.”